Introduction to major field crops (1+1)

Distribution

The major sunflower producing countries of the world are Russia, Argentina stands next to Russia. Other main sunflower growing countries are China, U.S.A., Spain France, Romania, Turkey, Hungry, Bulgaria, India, Australia, South Africa and Yugoslavia.

In India, sunflower as an oilseed crop was introduced in 1969 in Karnataka. However, large scale cultivation of sunflower was started in 1972 with the introduction of open-pollinated varieties of Russian (U.S.S.R.). Until mid-80's, the cultivation of sunflower remained confined to southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Owing to the short duration nature of the crop and development of hybrids, sunflower gained popularity in northern states and could be fitted in various cropping systems. This made sunflower an important spring season crop in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.